Getting Started with Linux Mint

Wednesday, November 21, 2018 @ 4:23 pm

In terms of operating systems the most common ones are Windows, macOS and Linux. Out of the three, Linux is most synonymous with “free”. Linux Mint is a Linux-based operating system and considered by many to be the most friendly. This blog post will go through Linux Mint and recommendations on setting it up.

As of the time of this post the latest version of Linux Mint is 19. However this blog post will focus on version 18.3 because I experienced random hard freezes on version 19, and 18.3 has been rock-solid for me.

Linux vs Windows:

It helps to compare and contrast the various major operating systems out there. Since macOS is derived from Unix, it shares quite a few traits with Linux so I will just compare Linux vs Windows.

Linux Mint:

Linux Mint is a Linux operating system and comes pre-installed with necessary drivers for your wifi/graphics/hardware devices to work out-of-the-box, and essential software such as the LibreOffice Suite (a free, open-source equivalent of the Microsoft Office suite). Running Linux means that you probably do not need to install an antivirus, worry about malware, rogue system updates that delete your files, or having to restart your computer every time you do system updates. Linux has a built-in firewall, built in keyboard shortcuts manager, a software manager where you can install a wide variety of programs for free, and much more.

In this regard Linux Mint is perfect as a “set-it-and-forget-it” operating system. Although, as this post will show, you can tinker around with it and customize almost every setting.

Linux Mint comes in three “flavours”:

Cinnamon: sleek and modern

MATE (pronounced “mat-ay”): more stable and faster desktop

XFCE: most lightweight and stable

Various people swear by each of the flavours; Cinnamon is visually pleasing out-of-the-box so it is the most popular. For more information on the three you can visit this page:

Although there are more features and better support in some editions than others, and some do run faster and use less resources than others, they’re all great alternatives and choosing the right edition is largely a matter of taste.

Other than their features and performance, Cinnamon, MATE and Xfce also represent three different desktop environments, with different menus, different panels and configuration tools. The right one for you is the one where you feel at home.

Burn a DVD/flash a USB with Linux Mint and test run it as a live session (without installing it)

Install Linux Mint to your computer as an actual operating system

I personally recommend trying to run Linux Mint in a virtual machine on your existing operating system because you are able to quickly look up solutions. Also you can easily start from scratch if you run into any problems. If you do go the virtual machine route, I recommend trying out MATE or XFCE as they are more lightweight and would likely run better in a virtual machine than Cinnamon

If the virtual machine route is not an option, I’d recommend getting an unused computer and using method #2 above and using Linux Mint as a live session (Linux in general is great at revitalizing old computers).

You will most likely want the 64-bit version, 32-bit if your computer is older

Procure a USB stick at least 2GB in capacity which you don’t mind erasing

Plug the USB stick into the computer

Open Etcher:

#1 select the USB stick you want to set up as a Linux Mint install USB (IMPORTANT: make sure you select the right drive)

#2 select the .iso of Linux Mint you downloaded in step #3 above

#3 flash the image; Etcher will also verify the USB stick has been correctly written to and automatically eject the USB when done

Plug the USB stick in the laptop/PC you wish to run Linux Mint on

Power off/start up the computer and press the correct hotkey(s) to go into the Boot Device selection menu (usually F12 but this varies across manufacturers). If you run into any issues at this step refer to this page (if you continue to have problems, try plugging the USB stick into different USB ports)

Linux Mint will boot into a live session which allows you to explore it without having to actually install it to your computer (everything is stored in RAM/memory)

Take some time to explore Linux Mint: open Firefox and surf the web, open LibreOffice Writer (Microsoft Word equivalent), check out GIMP (photo editor)

You can stop here if you’ve tried Linux Mint out and you’re not interested in installing it simply restart your computer, take out the USB stick, and you’ll boot into your regular system. If do you want to install Linux Mint, click on the “Install Linux Mint” icon on the desktop

Continue reading if you want to optimize Linux Mint and if you’d be comfortable running a few commands. If not, at this point you have a perfectly functioning operating system!

Tweak Linux Mint 18.3 XFCE Edition:

The following tips largely come from the Easy Linux Tips Project (consider donating); note the tips on the site are for Linux Mint 19 (not 18.3). You can visit the site for tweaks for other Linux Mint editions (Cinnamon or MATE).

The following tweaks are for 18.3 XFCE edition (it may look overwhelming but take your time and make sure you enter things correctly):

Open Firefox

Paste about:config into the url bar of Firefox and press Enter. Click the button to accept the risk.

In the search bar, type: sessionstore => Double-click on the item called browser.sessionstore.interval. Set it to 15000000 (six zeroes) and click the OK button